Meet The Team!
Co-Editor-in-Chief
Shannon Lee
Shannon is a junior from Westchester, NY majoring in English and minoring in Business, Media Studies, and Creative Writing. Outside of CURJ, she is on eboard for Forté Campus at Cornell, a business organization for women, and a senior writer for the Cornell Daily Sun. Last summer, she was a corporate marketing intern for Simon & Schuster, a Big 5 publishing firm. In her free time, she enjoys reading memoirs, going to the gym, and perfecting her matcha latte recipe.
Secretary
Aden Lee
Aden Lee Bio
Co-Editor-in-Chief
Rachel Pyeon
Rachel is a junior from Queens, NY studying Environmental Engineering in the College of Engineering. Outside of CURJ, she is part of the Aquaculture subteam in the Cornell University Sustainable Design where she is working on a feeding model to reduce overfeeding in industrial fish farms. Rachel also volunteers for Habitat for Humanity. In her free time, she enjoys listening to music, playing tennis, and going on hikes.
Social & Recruitment Chair
Nikita Khare
Niki is a junior in the ILR school. On campus, she does research at the Legal Information Institute and ILR's Global Labor and Work Institute, competes on Cornell's speech team, and works as a student writing tutor. In her free time, she enjoys painting and creating writing.
Co-Editor-in-Chief
Jaden Schmit
Jaden is a junior from Chicago, Illinois studying History and Environment & Sustainability in the College of Arts & Sciences. Outside of CURJ, he is also a Co-Editor-in-Chief of Ezra's Archives, as well as a member of the Environment & Sustainability Curriculum Committee, University Hearing and Review Panel, Cornell Historical Society, and Cornell Wind Symphony. In his free time, he enjoys playing basketball, composing orchestral works, and spending time with his cats.
Editorial Team
Graduate Student Coordinator
Tyler Huang
Tyler is a senior from Princeton, NJ majoring in Chemistry. He worked at J-STAR Research, a contract research organization for 3 years in the area of pharmaceutical chemistry and drug degradation. Now, he working on an honors thesis in Prof. Smolka's lab, where he is leveraging his knowledge about kinase signaling to find drug combinational therapies for cancer. Outside of classes, he enjoys playing the organ!
Editor
Alex Guo
Alex is a freshman from Overland Park, KS, majoring in Environment and Sustainability. On campus, he plays bassoon in the Cornell Wind Symphony, is a member of the Cornell Undergraduate Research Board, and will soon begin researching DNA damage in the Wang lab. In his free time, he enjoys going to the gym, playing tennis, hiking, and playing clash royale.
Editor
Nicolás Solano
Majoring in animal science with a minor in education, Nicolás is a freshman from Costa Rica. He has experience with scientific research due to the AP Research program provided in highschool. Furthermore Nicolás has done his own research regarding the great green macaw population in his home country; in addition to this, he volunteers at the YMCA of Ithaca & Tompkins County, and dabbles in art and tabletop/video games.
Managing Editor
Leo Navarro
Leo Navarro is a sophomore at Cornell University, double-majoring in Biological Sciences and Entomology. He conducts research in the Reed Lab using CRISPR-Cas9 knockouts to study butterfly wing patterning. On campus, Leo is Managing Editor of the Cornell Undergraduate Research Journal, a member of SnodWiggs (the entomology club), and a CALS Ambassador. In his free time, he enjoys ant keeping, hiking, and speed-cubing.
Editor
Owen Karmel
Owen Karmel Bio
Senior Editor
Alice Jang
Alice is a senior studying Biological Sciences with a concentration in Neurobiology and Behavior and minoring in Cognitive Science. On campus, she is pursuing an honors thesis in the Smith Lab of Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, where she researches the suppression of neural activity of the mediodorsal thalamus and medial prefrontal cortex. Outside of CURJ, she is the President of the Brain Exercise Initiative at Cornell, Content Editor for the Cornell Healthcare Review, and a volunteer academic tutor. In her spare time, she loves to bake, play boardgames with her friends, and read.
Editor
Sabrina Liu
Sabrina is a junior majoring in Biology and Society. At Cornell, she conducts research on heart regeneration in the Butcher Lab. Sabrina is passionate about science education and communication, and she enjoys science outreach, especially with K-12 students. In her free time she reads, plays classical piano, does outdoor activities like climbing, and plays squash.
Graphic Design Team
Director of Art
Nancy Zheng
Nancy Zheng is a senior from San Jose, CA majoring in Computer Science and minoring in Business and Music. Aside from CURJ, she is the Team Lead of Cornell Engineering World Health Project Team and studies classical piano with Professor Xak Bjerken. In her free time, Nancy enjoys running, puzzles, chasing sunsets, and trying new eateries with friends.
Graphic Designer
Yvette Park
Yvette is a sophomore from Long Island, NY majoring in Plant Science. She transferred from Emory University where she conducted research on Triple Negative Breast Cancer, focusing on molecular mechanisms and therapeutic targets. In her free time, she loves baking, playing tennis, and going to concerts.
Graphic Designer
Katherine Cha
Katherine is a sophomore studying architecture in the College of Architecture, Art, and Planning. She was involved in Dragon Day 2025 for documentation and enjoys media production. Outside of school, she likes to write prose and assemble wood puzzles.
Graphic Designer
Iris Lu
Iris is a freshman from Taiwan majoring in Design + Environmental Analysis. Outside of CURJ, she works as a layout designer for CURM. In her free time, she enjoys art, music, spending time with family and friends, and discovering new foods.
Finance Team
Director of Finance
Andy Alkin
Andy Alkin is a sophomore from Seattle, WA majoring in Economics with a minor in Data Science. Outside of CURJ, he is conducting research on economics and infrastructure, is a TA for microeconomics, and the captain of the club soccer team. In his spare time, Andy enjoys reading, hiking, playing all kinds of sports, and spending time with family and friends.
Finance Member
Olivia Yang
Olivia Yang Bio
Operations Team
Director of Operations
Aria Haghighat
Aria is from Howard County, MD majoring in Biological Sciences. He joined the Helmann lab in August 2024 and is currently assisting in quantifying the expression of the Penicillin-Binding-Protein-4 (PBP4) involved in antimicrobial resistance within Bacillus Subtilis. Outside of CURJ, Aria is part of Cornell Taekwondo Club and the project team Cornell University Biomedical Device (CUBMD). In his free time, Aria enjoys reading books and watching his favorite shows.
Operations Member
Lal Tutuncuoglu
Lal Tutuncuoglu Bio
Recruitment & Social Chair
Remi Ladia
Remi is a class of '28 Computer Science major from Fairfax, Virginia. Outside of CURJ, she is a member of the Cornell Data Journal, the Chief Engineer for Cornell Media Guild and a WVBR radio DJ, the President of Marginalia: Cornell's Undergraduate Poetry Review, and a member of the Cornell Filipino Association and the Vietnamese Student Association. In her free time, she loves baking, reading and writing poetry, and playing tennis or going on a run.
Operations Member
Nigel Tatem
Nigel Tatem is a sophomore studying Computer Science in the College of Engineering at Cornell University. He is a developer on Cornell Digital Tech & Innovation’s CoursePlan project and serves as the Professional Development Chair for Underrepresented Minorities in Computing. Beyond campus, he has interned at a tech startups gaining experience in full-stack development and data science. In his free time, Nigel enjoys fitness, content creation, and building personal projects that connect technology with impact.
Outreach Team
Director of Outreach
Vivian Dong
Vivian is a sophomore from Basking Ridge, NJ majoring in Biological Sciences with a minor in Anthropology. She is interested in epigenetics and is currently conducting research on the regulation of early meiotic genes during sporulation in budding yeast. Outside of CURJ, Vivian dances with the Amber Dance Troupe and the Cornell Ballet Club. In her free time, she enjoys listening to music, reading, hiking, and raising plants in her room.
Outreach Member
Dania Bressler
Dania Bressler Bio